The Walking Dead - Underland
by TheDanielJohn
Summary: Noah, a regular Aussie guy, wakes after his best friends bucks night, handcuffed to his own pool chair, completely unaware of the global chaos that occurred the night before. His life, and the lives of his friends are about to take a turn in a completely different direction.
1. Waking

**THE WALKING DEAD - UNDERLAND**

PART 1 - WAKING

BY DANIEL WATTS

There was a distinct ticking near my ear, which seemed to pulse through my head relentlessly. Pounding deep within my skull, my dream was interrupted; something about a city street, and a car, and a lovely girl. Dissipated into the daylight air, which brushed on my face with a cool hand, the light piercing my already painful eyes. My own hands however, were numb, as I looked down the length of my left arm, I could see it had gone limp with the way I was laying, arm dangling in the pool of my house, wrinkles covered every finger, and it looked as if I'd been there for many hours. The pool filter ticking away in the distance. I turned to my right, and rattled my hand, which was slightly out of view, my suspicions were correct, I was handcuffed to my heavy pool chair. Glorious friends I have, I thought. Probably Nick, only he would cuff me so close to a place where I could drown.

I'm sure it had been a good night, James' buck's night, I obviously didn't remember much of it, I still have no idea how I ended up cuffed by the pool side. All I could think that groggy morning, was how I was going to peel myself off of that concrete, and undo the cuffs. After several minutes, I realized that the key was sat quite subtly atop the pool chair above where I was laying, I scrambled and fidgeted, dragging myself underneath to undo the cuffs, and with a clink, they came un-done. At that I sat up, discarding the cuffs. My back aching with the hours of laying upon the cold hard ground, and I surveyed the area, the pool had several whiskey bottle-sea monsters scattered throughout its depths, no broken glass thankfully. I spied a glass bong however, knocked over on the outdoor table, scattered remnants of other party paraphernalia by its side. The reasons for my handcuffing suddenly seemed a little less, or more, foggy. I approached the back door, and stared at my bearded face in the glass, I could hear the low thump of the bass still pumping inside the house, and as I slid open the door, the dragons let out its throaty cry. How the rest of the guys managed to sleep through the night with the sounds of house party music blaring through our sound system is still a mystery, but it proved possible. Toilet paper trails, the smell of alcohol and a distinct presence of filth filled the air. I decided to postpone slaying the musical beast, and instead made my way to the bathroom, down through the kitchen, passed the hall, and to my left, where I entered the small tiled room. The sink was running, god knows how long for, thankfully no plug had been put in though, and so I rinsed my face, staring up at my blue eyes, and ragged head. The face of an adult, the face of a man, whom still felt somewhat like a boy, living a fantasy, where escape was not an option. This bucks night had been a wakeup call, the idea that a mate, a mate who spent his days in high school chasing girls with no hope of every gaining their attention, was now going to be joining his life with one. I hadn't had a girlfriend since tenth grade, and even then, that relationship isn't worth discussing. I felt better though, seeing the other guys feeling somewhat the same, before we hit the drinks we had a good chat, and it was pretty evident that David, Nick, and Michael felt the same way as me.

The night started with pre-drinks at mine, and then we made our way down town into the clubs, drinking as we went, James was determined that we stay away from the strip clubs, so as far as I know we did. It got to about midnight when James' phone rang, his fiancé was crying and screaming about something, and we assumed it was a plea to drag him away from his final night of freedom. So in typical drunk guy fashion, we ignored the call and confiscated his phone. After the clubs we headed for the bar nearest our house, a few kilometres down the road. After that, everything seems slurred, aside from David's incident, he tried to pick up this girl at the pub, who was clearly plastered, and she bit him right on the neck, drew blood and everything, the bouncers dragged her out kicking and writhing.

That's all I remember really, the flickering street lights seemed burned into my eyes as I looked into the swirling water in the sink. Suddenly there was a loud thud on the wall behind the mirror, and I leapt back, surprised. Behind the bathroom, in the hallway, was the guest bedroom, I assumed one of the guys crashed in there after they went inside. I turned off the tap, and pressed my ear against the wall, maybe one of them brought a girl home. There was quiet, and suddenly, another loud bang, this time bits of dust fell from atop the mirror, which now hung askew. I decided, hangover or not, I wasn't going to have a mate destroying my house. So I left the bathroom and went around the bedroom door. Peering into the living room as I passed, where I saw Michael and Nick strung out on the floor and the lounge. I reached the bedroom door, and slowly turned the handle, looking inside. It was gloomy, and the only light came from a slight crack in the blinds, the dust swirling in the air and the blackness. I flicked the light switch and stared ominously at what lay in front of me, on the bed, two feet above me stood David, or rather, David's body, his eyes were a terrible murky white, and his mouth had streams of blood, which came down his bare chest. The small bite on his neck had festered, and was now black in parts, his veins were pulsating just under his skin.

Fear filled me, something was terribly wrong, my corpse like friend stood gnashing at me, the light on the ceiling had caught his attention and the bed springs creaked under the pressure of his weight. The booming bass of the stereo hammered with the beat of my heart. Suddenly, as if I had been invisible, David lurched forward, slipping off of the bed, he slammed his head on the door frame, and a black bruise rose on his forehead almost immediately. I sprang back, and with a moment of hesitation I kicked his head away from the door frame, and grabbed for handle, pulling the door shut with a slam. In that moment, as the music persisted with beat after beat, time slowed down, my mind was spinning with the countless horror films I had seen throughout my life, and now one was banging at my guest bedroom door. Then the music stopped, the lights in the kitchen went out too, in fact everything stopped still, and with the sudden quiet in the house, I could hear sirens in the distance, the violent snoring in the living room, and the sickening gargle of a cry, that derided behind the closed door in front of me.

"Michael, wake up, wake the fuck up man, something has happened man, something happened, something's wrong" I pleaded to the still hung over men on my floor.

As Michael and Nick began to sit up and rub their eyes, the sound of sirens grew louder and louder, and with the sirens, came screams and the distant sound of explosions, and as I explained what was in the guest bedroom, all anybody could hear was the gargling and the gnashing of teeth.


	2. Initiation

"Noah, are you telling me, that David is some fucking brain dead maniac, like, more than he was before?" Michael spluttered out. The truth of his sarcasm stood out in his face, he could hear the banging on the door as loud as Nick and I could. The three of us sat in silence for a few seconds, trying to string together what was happening.

"Where's James?" Nick questioned. Suddenly panic clouded my mind, I had completely forgotten about the groom to be. I stood up frantically and checked the front of the house, James' car was gone. I scrambled around all of the rooms, upturning cushions for my phone, finding it by a shattered plate near the fireplace. The battery was looming at just over ten percent, swiping the screen and unlocked it, but everything was down, no signals at all. Just a pop up floating on the screen read "One Missed Call".

"It's useless." I called over to the others, "I can't check my messages if the lines are down". Michael was peaking around the hallway to get a glimpse of the guest bedroom door. "Why the fuck is there blood on the doorframe?!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the house. I explained what happened when I opened the door, how David had tried to bite at me, and was incoherent, violent. How he knocked his head as he fell from the mattress.

"What happened to him?" Nick wondered out loud. I explained the bite, which only Michael remembered, he sat leaning against the wall, laughing about the sickly girl at the pub from the night before. His face turned with a sudden realization, "She bit him". We all looked grimly at each other, it seemed impossible, it seemed like something from the countless movies and books and tv shows we'd grown up watching and reading. These sorts of things didn't happen, not here, not in reality. "The landlines are down, Nick exclaimed from the kitchen, he held the receiver in his hand hopelessly." I decided to go down to the outside of the house and check the power inlet, everything was down, and the power was tripped too. My mind was going through everything I knew about the electricity, I wondered if it was just for our immediate area, and so going with that theory I asked Michael to help me drag the generator upstairs with me from the basement, while Nick stayed upstairs and secured the guest bedroom door. After moving some of the obstacles in the basement, we arrived upstairs, shifting the heavy generator into the lounge room, Michael headed back down for a second trip to get the jerry-can and extension leads. Nick was busy building a barricade in front of the guest bedroom, completely blocking the door with a large shelf he had upturned. Michael and I spent a few minutes tinkering until we got the generator running. At last it let out a roar, pouring smoke into the room, I hastily connected the television and flicked to the first channel that popped up. Abruptly the blaring sound of the emergency broadcast service poured from the television speakers, the Australian coat of arms flickered across the screen, in a broken digital signal, pixels out of place. The following script repeated lengthways along a red strip:

_INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY – STAY IN YOUR HOMES – CONTAMINATION ALERT – EMERGENCY SERVICES HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED TO PREVENT FURTHER OUTBREAK – QUARANTINE STATUS ACTIVE– STAY IN YOUR HOMES – INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY – STAY IN YOUR HOMES - EMERGENCY SERVICES HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED TO PREVENT FURTHER OUTBREAK – STAY CLEAR OF THE INFECTED – _

It was real, from that moment, everything changed, I walked outside and looked out onto the street, my neighbour's cars were mostly gone, and some had left their houses in several states of evacuation. I walked out onto the pavement and looked into the sky, great plumes of smoke rose on the horizon, the sirens still screamed in the distance, no sign of them dwindling any time in the near future.

I ran straight back inside and called to the others, and instructed them to follow me to the basement, one thing my father had left to me before he moved north with mum, was his prized collection of rifles. Luckily for me, I had had a shooters license myself, and I was allowed to keep them. I lead the guys to the large bricked wall, in the basement, and progressed behind a large pile of clutter, to the steel gun case that stood, heavily coated in dust, in the back of the low lit room. I turned the worn dial on the case, and opened it up, four long rifles stood adorned in the cupboard, Michael gawped over my shoulder, and I passed him the long double barrel shotgun that rested in the corner of the safe. He looked at me with grave concern. This was a strange initiation of sorts, we were preparing for a real uncertainty, this was the changing of the world, and we were only on the doorstep. I passed Nick a scoped 30-30, a decent calibre rifle, and he held it in his hands with an odd reluctance. I grabbed the other rifle, a Winchester, and a small box that lay at the bottom of the safe, which contained a small 22 pistol. I instructed the guys to grab anything from the basement that might be useful. With that I headed back upstairs to my bedroom, retrieving all the ammo I had from the bottom drawer in my bedroom, about seven boxes of various shells.

I stood looking at a picture for a moment, of myself, James' David and my brother Evan, we were holding large fish we'd caught that day, the cool blue of the waves behind us, I escape there for a moment, not fully appreciation that moment, the care free-ness of it, until then. A horn rang out from out the front of the house, I jolted out of my thoughts and sprang to my window, Michael and Nick had already rushed outside. James' car was parked haphazardly on my steep drive way, his windshield shattered, and covered in smears of red and brown and black. He climbed out, his face was whiter than death.

We all stood staring at the macabre scene, and suddenly he spoke, urgency flowed from his voice like a piercing sword. "We need to leave right NOW!"


	3. Overturned

James' urgency could not be ignored, I ran back inside, grabbed a rucksack, and stuffed it with clothes and shoes and anything I thought important. I poured batteries into a plastic bag, and grabbed the first aid kit and all the medication under the sink. James stood by the car pacing, while Michael and Nick grabbed their gear from around the house, Nicks bag was in the guest room with David's writhing corpse, so I grabbed extra things for him to use. After about ten minutes of rummaging through all of my belongings, James' car horn started blasting from the driveway again. Michael called out from the veranda "Fuck! Fuck! Guys hurry up" I hooked the bags over my shoulder, and called to Nick to get out the front. The site in my small suburban street was one I will remember for the rest of my life. Hundreds of corpses were walking up the street, some limping, some missing limbs, or with their innards spilling from their chest. All gnashing, all coming straight for us. I ran down the stairs of the veranda, and opened the boot, Nick got it in the car whilst James revved the engine to life, Michael helped me cram everything we had into the boot, and we climbed into the car. Looking out the window, the entire left side of my street was blocked with walking dead. James reversed down the slope, and faced the opposite direction, headed for the main road. We pulled out of the drive and watched behind, as the hoards of the dead crawled, clambered and pursued us out of the avenue.

"What is happening!" Cried Nick from the front passenger seat, his rifle cradled in his hands like a new love. "How could this of happened over night!?" he protested. "Do you ever watch the fucking news man?, How would you know what's been happening, we spent the last twenty four hours blind off our faces! What would we know?" I spat back at him from the backseat, half turned, looking back at the place where my old house still stood.

James drove steadily up onto the main road, cars were pulled over, parked lengthways across the streets, a fire truck stood abandoned up ahead at the intersection, it's sirens still spinning and wailing, the fire hose pouring streams of water down the road, as if its occupants had been ripped from the world. "Liv rang last night, remember?" James suddenly spoke as we passed a McDonalds and headed further south along the main road, walkers could be seen roaming the car park and the restaurants interior. "Macca's Run?" joked Michael as we drove on by. James turned around in his seat, "Liv, you know, my fiancé?" His face was red, and he was tearing up. Michael coughed down an embarrassed laugh, "Sorry man, what did she have to say?" His sarcastic assumption that it was of unimportance was coolly miscalculated. "She called me screaming Michael, I checked my messages in the morning before the lines dropped out, luckily. One of her friends had come over, and she was sick… and her friend… her friend fucking bit her man. That's where I went this morning. All the way to fucking Penrith to her house, by then it was already chaos, I could see these dead freaks roaming the streets, cops were shooting everyone who came close. When I arrived at her house, I opened the door, and I saw her collapsed on the stairs, her leg was broken, it seemed like she'd fallen down the stairs as she…..as she turned. I knew it was too late man, but I couldn't, I couldn't leave her, and she got up and came straight at me, like a devil, like a wild animal. I had to beat her head on the wall to keep her away. I panicked, and left for the car as she limped out of the front door behind me, she was covered in blood. I was going to marry her… and she's gone." James finished, his tears flowing freely down his face. Michael sat quieter than death in the back seat, swallowing his guilt. "Pull over up here James" I said to him, and we passed over a hill and caught site of a petrol station, he pulled into one of fuelling stations, pumps strewn all over the ground, a car crashed right through the sliding doors, it looked looted quite recently.

James got out and started punching his door with his already bloodied hands, I grabbed him and held him, and he struggled for a moment in his anger and grief, I felt his pain as I held him still. Michael remained in the car, head in his hands. "I'm sorry man, I'm so so sorry" I spoke to James as he wept. Another car appeared over the hill on the road, honking and flashing its lights as it approached, swerving erratically. James turned to look, as did I, and the car suddenly veered and turned sideways and began to roll down the slope towards us, the windshield shattering as it rotated and bowled faster and faster, and then it took one final plunge into the tar road, inverted and broken, fuel began pouring from the engine. The wheels still spinning, and smoke pluming out from its underbelly. We could see the driver, a walker, writhing in its set, pressing the accelerator as it struggled to escape its bindings. Then we saw her, a young girl, about seventeen, James' ran towards the car, it seemed he spied her too, and as the door was badly indented, we kicked out the window and James, ignoring the biting and bruised driver climbed in. "She's alive" he called from inside. She awoke with a start as he tried to cut free her seatbelt with a pen knife he carried on his keychain. "It's ok, It's ok, trust me" Her eyes were fixed on him, and the driver was slowly getting a better reach into the rear seats. I called to Nick who was busy inside the petrol station shop, looking for cigarettes no doubt, and he climbed over the car that blocked the sliding doors, rifle in hand. James cut through the last strap of the seatbelt, and slowly eased the girl the right way up, she was screaming loudly, and the driver suddenly grabbed James' leg, pulling his ankle with brute force towards is blooded mouth. Suddenly it exploded in a flash of red, and glass shattered everywhere. Michael had gotten out of the car and loaded the shotgun, shattering the glass and killing the biter in one shot. The girl began hyperventilating, her eyes rolling around in her head and I helped James get her out from under the car. Nick arrived at the car side, a large pack of cigarettes in his hand and a huge nine litre keg of water. "Fuck me!" he cried, as he saw the splattered remnants of the front passenger of the overturned car, and suddenly vomit sprayed from his mouth and her turned away dropping his loot on the ground as he spluttered.

James hooked the girls arm on one shoulder, and I hooked the other, and I grabbed the keg of water that Nick dropped, and we took her to the side of our car. I unscrewed the large cap on the top of the keg, and poured the water onto a piece of cloth, which I ripped from my shirt. I dampened it and dabbed the girls head gently, she stirred, in shock and distress. James sat next to her, with his arm gently placed around her shoulder, patting her hair back away from her face.

Michael stayed over the corpse of the driver of the car wreck, his hands shaking as he observed the first walker he ever killed, it would not be the last.


	4. The South Road

The sun began to fall over the hills and suburbs around the petrol station, and Michael stood guard on top of the station roof, he had moved a dumpster beside the building and climbed up whilst we looked out for our new companion. After a good hour, she had calmed down enough to talk to us, her name was Kat, but she said to call her Kay, as that's what her brother called her. Kay was the reason we started calling the walkers, walkers. She explained that the man driving the car was her brother, he had rushed them out of the house at four in the morning, and they had come from the eastern suburbs, near Sydney. She said his plan was to drive south as far and fast as he could, one of his friends down by the coast said it hadn't reached there, the military had stationed a blockade overnight when they heard it had reached the western suburbs. Her green eyes began to stare ominously into her memory, as she recounted the incident before they crashed. "He had gotten bit, by one of them walkers" she said, " he didn't tell me until we had reached the main road we are on now, a couple of kilometres back he warned me that he thought he might be sick. I told him it would be ok, and it would be fine, and then he passed out, his foot jammed on the accelerator, and so I grabbed the wheel, steering as best I could, and that's when we came to the top of the hill, he suddenly came back to life trying to bite me, I jumped back in my seat and strapped on the seatbelt as the car began to turn over on it side." At hearing this, James had told her his story, as the realization that her brother was gone had finally dawned on her and panic had set in again.

Meanwhile Nick returned to the Petrol station shop to stock up on supplies, after ascertaining that Kay was going to be alright, I decided to help Nick out, leaving her with James whom had set up a makeshift bed in the back of the car, which we moved to the back of the petrol station, out of sight of anyone on the road. Inside the shop Nick and I foraged for useful supplies, all the lights were down, except for a solitary high beam of the crashed car, which stood square in the entrance where the sliding doors should be. It wasn't enough light to search effectively so our first priority was to find a form of torch. Nick began to look through the aisles, whilst I headed back behind the counter to see what the shopkeeper had stashed away. Nick called out that he had found a good amount of batteries, and some firelighters. He then began stacking things in boxes which he upturned from other products. As I rummaged through the drawers and shelves behind the counter, I came across a small cabinet that housed the video surveillance. I found myself watching the days recordings for some time before Nick caught my attention, "What is it man, did you find something? Is it a torch cause I can't see shit in here now!" He noticed I was glued to something, so he pushed passed to see what I was looking at. The footage showed regular customers, just buying petrol, filling their cars, paying and leaving, and slowly, more and more cars began to stream over the hill, by five in the morning, there weren't just cars, but people too, some of them not even fully dressed, just running. Then there was panic, a man came into the shop and started loading his arms with items, and the shopkeeper tried to intervene, and the car came shooting through the shopfront. A man crawled from it, and leaped onto the shopkeeper, and they crawled from the wreckage, out onto the road. By ten o'clock, there was a steady stream of cars, stopping, filling up and driving away, some people dared enter the shop, stealing what items they could. A man climbed over the wreck, and went behind the counter, emptying only the cash register of its contents. Nick and I looked up as that played on the screen, to the register lying hap-hazardly on the counter. Finally the afternoon came, and a few cars streamed idly down the main road, and as it hit three, our car arrived as well, puttering to a stop. "Well we know what happens next" said Nick, turning the screen off and walking away. "Nick" I called. "There is no power" he replied with his usual wit, "I know, I know, its great isn't it." I flicked the screen back on and pointed, "Why has it got power" "Oh" he replied. Jumping back behind the counter with me, maybe it runs on backup, in case of a blackout, so people won't break in, so the cameras still record. "Yeah, maybe man, shit, that's good thinking, I wonder if anywhere else still has power going at the moment" "Hey man look, haha, right above your head!" Nick pointed at a shelf that housed three large industrial torches. He grabbed one and passed it to me. "I'm gonna grab some more food and stuff, you take these out to James and pack them" he passed me a filled box with batteries, firelighters, matches, he even managed to find room for another pack of cigarettes.

I hauled the heavy box out the car, and chucked a torch to James' who was sitting in the car trying to pick up a signal on the radio. "Emergency broadcast on every station man, they are all saying the same shit, 'stay in your homes', well fuck that!" Kay let out a laugh from the back seat, she was lying back looking out the top of the sun roof which hung over the passenger seat. James' car was a hatchback, which had roof racks across the sides, and the seats folded down in the back, which made a really great "love nest" in his words. He often bragged about his trips away with Liv. He was unwavering that, that car was the reason he got a girlfriend, and maybe he was right, it sure gave him a new confidence. As he fiddled with the radio dial for another time, and as Nick came out with two boxes stacked with groceries, a shot rang out. A loud and echoing shot, that could of only come from the rifle. Michaels voice rang out from the roof, the black night and the stars, and illumination of the street lamps revealed his target. Up on the ridge was an even darker darkness, a mass, which moved with a slow urgency. Michael could be heard bouncing off the roof onto the dumpster, as he rounder the corner chucking the gun into the boot. "We got to go again boys!", he shouted, "I guess I'll stick with you then" announced Kay, as she fastened her seatbelt and sat up. I helped Nick load the last of the supplies into the boot while James' got the car going again. Then we scrambled into the car, as the loud and black hoard of walkers approached the petrol station, their white eyes could be seen reflected under the street lights, which shone eerily with the suns power. A melancholy reminder of a life we were leaving behind.

We drove straight for quite a while, heading further out of the city, onto a country road, "we should hit Appin soon, called James from the front seat" Appin was a small community on the borders of suburbia, but still far enough away to be called a country town, it was slowly being swallowed by societies mechanical machine when the walkers came along, but it was saved, and condemned to stay the same like many other places in the world. As we passed large properties and farm houses, the sky began to shine brighter with stars, there were no clouds, and no city glow to crowd the sky with its polluting radiance. "Plenty of the locals seem to be sticking it out, out here" said Kay as we passed the third farmhouse, whose gates were locked, and lights were shining with a stubborn rebelliousness. "If that hoard makes it this far south, they are going to regret staying" Michael said, nestling the rifle on his lap.

Our conversation was disrupted by a loud echoing, and a flashing of bright beams up ahead. "Are we there already?" Asked Kay, confused. "No, not yet" James' replied, his eyes fixed on the fast moving beams of light. As we approached he began to slow the car down, Nick fidgeted in his seat, trying to get a better view of what was ahead. We passed a slight bend in the road, and the tree line broke, showing a full view of what lied ahead. A huge amass of cars, some piled on top of each other, and some backed into others, some parked or veered violently off of the road, some smouldering or still burning. All were destroyed and unpassable. James dimmed the headlights, we could see ahead a good hundred metres, and at the front of the chaos was a barricade, set up in the middle of the road, the only road into Appin from the North. The large beams were mounted on top of what looked like military vehicles, trucks and hummers, silhouetted by the brightness of the lights. James very slowly began to reverse the car, It was clear that the last of the people who had come this way, were stopped. Suddenly one of the cars, which was sandwiched in the masses of collisions in front of the barrier, shifted a little, and a man crawled out through the bonnet. He climbed up on top of the car and began waving his hands and crying out towards the lights. Suddenly the lights turned, and a loud voice rang out over a megaphone. "Turn back, this is a quarantine zone, you are not authorized beyond this point, if you refuse, we have been authorized to use lethal force" The man suddenly pressed forward, leaping from the bonnet of the car and onto the one in front, and suddenly a rain of fire hailed down upon him, sparks and flashes flew in all directions. James pulled the car into reverse and slammed the accelerator, whipping the car into the opposite direction.

He stopped then in the middle of the road, and we all took a long look at the beaming bright lights, which masked the authority and the firepower behind them. The bright gaze fixed upon the mutilated corpse of the would be human survivor.


	5. Acceleration

James' slammed his foot on the accelerator, drawing attention from the lights that stood high above the barricade, they didn't fire at us, thankfully, nor did they pursue us. "Where do we go now?" asked Kay from the back seat, her eyes fixed on the road ahead, Michael was still craning his head around in disbelief at the barricade. The amount of times we'd come through Appin, headed for the coast for so frequent and so numerous. "We should stop at one of these farms" suggested Nick, shaken by the thought of heading back into town. "No, I say we try and make our way around, the highways will be clearer now, surely, we should head back into town and see what we can do from there" I exclaimed, hoping for a better destination than bunking down in an unguarded farm house. James disputed this plan, he'd seen town already, but the others agreed. Kay began to tell us a story that she had heard the following week, and we listened intently as we headed back up the long dark road into town.

"It was about four weeks ago…" she said "I was watching a few articles on an independent news station on YouTube, there were stories being leaked of people being savagely attacked on the streets by random strangers. A group of men had been detained in quarantine in Canada who arrived by boat, one of whom died in custody. I think the governments must of known this was serious, the fact that its spread so quickly, half of the city has already been emptied out." She paused for a moment, thinking. "We were headed for the coast too, my brother and I, he had heard they were admitting people at a makeshift border they had set up. I guess they changed their mind"… "Apparently so!" retorted Nick, he spoke for the first time in a while, his voice was vacant and his face, sallow. The street lights, which had gradually disappeared as we had entered the country side, were slowly coming back into view, but instead of increasing in brightness as we drove closer to the borders of the town, it remained black and still and quiet, a sight none of us had ever before endured. Before long we came back within the forest road, which bordered the entrance of the town, James' became startled as a groups of walkers could be seen amongst the trees, their eyes glowing white in the headlights as we passed, some found the way onto the road, gnawing after us as we flew by. Finally we made it back to the petrol station, Kays overturned car lay upside down still, in the middle of the road, as the headlights illuminated it, it was clear it had been looted since we left. There wasn't a large amount of walkers in the area, someone had set the petrol station alight since we left, it was smouldering, and the car that stood in the entrance way was now blackened and warped, the archway melted like plastic icicles to the ground. "Lucky we got our supplies early" said Michael as we slowly drove by. The crest of the hill gave a view once again of the Golden McDonalds sign, which like the Petrol station, seemed to run on reserved power. James' flicked on the high beams, and the road was lit up ahead, the gradual sloping main road gave a clear sight of the landscape we had to traverse. There were scattered walkers all the way to the next peak, where the fire engine stood earlier in the day, and the turn would be to my house. "Noah, can you drive from here, I've been going for hours"and he stopped on the road, far from the reaches of the walkers. I jumped out of the rear passengers seat, and we swapped our spots. A few revs of the engine and I pressed the peddle down hard, taking off up the road, immediately many heads turned on the road, pointed in our direction, some began pacing towards us, spilling their bloodied mess over the road. I swerved around a few of them as we drove up the hill, they seemed to emerge out of the darkness as If they were part of it. The fire truck came into view once again, this time it was manned however, a solitary survivor stood upon its roof and could be seen in the flashes of its spinning red lights. He saw the light of our headlights and began waving frantically, "There is someone up there" Kay pointed out. "We have to help him" I said, Nick argued this, "There's at least ten of those things around that truck, and fifty more following us up this hill, and even if we were to save him! What then? There's barely enough room for this chick!" and he gestured towards Kay who gave him a quick "Fuck you then!". I told him to take her advice and stop being such a wanker, and I stopped the car ten metres short of the fire truck, ripping the shotgun from Nicks hands.

Michael followed, pulling his rifle out and leaning against the car as I walked forward. I had two rounds in the double barrel, at four in my pocket, not enough to kill ten, and not quick to load, so I planned it out as I walked. The survivor atop the truck distracted a few of the walkers as best he could, yelling and kicking at them, but the rest of them began moving towards the car and myself. Michael fired a round straight through one of their heads, and their pace quickened, another distracted walker turned its bloodied face towards me, and I fired a deafening spray in their direction, one of them fell to pieces, and another's chest spilled open. I recoiled at the fact that it didn't kill it, nor did it slow it down any great deal, Michael pumped another round into a walker by the truck. As I got closer to them I let out another shell, taking down one of them with a headshot, suddenly Kay came running past me, and brandishing a knife I had packed earlier from my room. Another shot flew past me from Michael, a perfect shot that slowed a walker who was sprinting for me. Kay lunged at one of the slower attackers, plunging the blade through their eye and into the brain, the weight of their sudden drop to the ground took her by surprise and she fell. James too rushed from the car, holding a cricket bat which was stowed in his trunk, he flogged a walker dead in the head, and the crack of its skull echoed above the roaring sirens.

The survivor jumped from the roof then, grabbing the head of a stray fire hose and dragging it up to a walker, bashing it square in the face several times, until it dropped to the ground, lifeless.

"Thankyou so much, you guys saved me big time! I'm Addi " The survivor dropped the fire house and joined us by the truck, his white shirt and black jacket smeared with blood. "Are you okay man?, What were you doing up there?" James asked as we all caught our breathe. Them fuckin things chased me up the hill, my car was busted, I live just down the hill there and I tried to get it going, I thought I could hold up by myself but I couldn't. So I made a run for this truck, there's no keys though! By the time I got here, it was too late" Nick waltzed over from the car, his face not showing much sign of an apology, holding the spare rifle in his hands, Michael leaned against the truck listening to Addi's story, shooting Nick a constant look of disgust. "Hey man, where is your car at?" I said as he finished, and he pointed down the hill towards a small house. Michael and I, we can take a look at it for you, if you can go with James and our friend Kay here. "What about me?" asked Nick, his voice lowered as he reminded us of his presence. He slipped a cigarette into his mouth as he stood, watching us look at him, wondering what he was thinking. "I'll go with them, he announced." Pointing at Kay and James. "Thankyou so much guys", Addi's eyes began to water, and he was muttering about someone he had lost. Nick interrupted him with a cough, his lighter clicked shut  
"We've all lost someone man, if not yet, we will, it's gonna happen from now on, that's the way it's going to be, ok!" With that he took a large draw back on his cigarette, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and walked back to the car, and we all stood staring at the back of this shadowy new Nick none of us knew.

The sound of walkers began to fill the air again, a new smell of blood and sickness that seemed to hover along with the sound, it was time to move out of the streets.


	6. Just Three Days In

James comforted Addi, and helped him retrieve some things from the fire truck, whilst I called Kay over to the car. Michael checked the dead for anything he considered useful or tradeable. I lead Kay around to the boot, cautious of the fact we had little time, and of the presence of Nick, who sat smoking in the front seat. Opening the boot I retrieved the small case from the gun safe, which contained the handgun and its ammo. "Kay, I want you to listen to me very carefully, my friend, Nick, he isn't like this, not normally, I think seeing that man gun downed at the blockade, its triggered something in him. If he goes with you to get petrol from up the road, I don't know what will happen, I have a bad feeling, but I want you to be able to protect yourself either way" She looked at me with concerned eyes, and nodded, "I understand, It Noah isn't it? We haven't really got much of a chance for introductions, and I guess now Isn't the time either really…" I suppose not" I replied, laughing a little. Kay gave me a second look, and she stashed the gun in the back of her pants, "Aren't you going to ask how to use it" I called as she walked away. "Trigger, safety off, all that?" she asked, "I've played video games my whole life, and aside from that, I've been around guns before too." She smiled and gave a sly wink as she got into the car. Michael came over to me with a handful of phones, a camera which was stashed in a walkers pocket, and an iPod, I laughed at his finds and he put them in the boot. James and Addi headed over too, and we discussed the plan. "So four of us are headed to the Petrol station? Yes?" asked James. "If you'd like, I can stay and help you, I'd rather learn how to fix it so I can do it myself" Addi announced. "Ok, so its me, the girl and Nick" James' eyes glowed with fake delight. "Drive down to my house first, we need to make sure the car can even run before we go and risk our lives for fuel" said Addi. "Finally someone speaks some sense!" Called the muffled voice of Nick in the passengers seat. "Good to know he is listening to every word with delicate attention to detail I suppose" I said. "Smartass" scoffed Nick, again.

We moved the car down the street, to Addis house, and he opened up his double garage, his old car sat, hood still open inside, and we drove in our own car. Walkers began piling down the hill in scattered numbers as we slid the garage door shut. "Should hold as long as we don't attract a horde of them" said Addi as he led us through the back of the garage, his tools were neatly arranged on racks throughout the garage. I had a generator going yesterday, pulled her out from under the house, but the old girl ran out of full by the evening, she was running on fumes as It was, he patted the bright red box that sat by his back door. Electrical leads running like veins to various locations.

He swung open the back door, calling out through the house, "She should be empty, I didn't leave any doors open, just in case I had to come back, don't want them dead freaks filling my living room." We all laughed, Kay, entered through the back door, she had retrieved the big box of firelighters from the car, apparently noticing Addis chimney as we pulled up. "Spose you can light that, might brighten the place up a bit!" he said, noticing she wasn't asking for permission. Nick walked in through the back door, ignoring the others, and nestled himself on the lounge, loading another smoke into his mouth as he watched Kay attempt to light a fire. "So, you guys are welcome to stay as long as you'd like, I can't thank you enough, I owe you my life, so my house is yours!" We all thanked him, and then James urged him to go and get some rest. Michael began to raid his pantry for food as soon as he was out of sight. "You are a fucker" I called. Michael laughed, not bothering to turn, or apologize. "Im hungry" he said, as he chewed on an apple he pulled from a bowl. It was true, none of us from my house had eaten since the night before, so we all sorted through Addi's food for a makeshift meal, eating the things in the fridge first, as they were still cold, and were going to go to waste if nobody ate them.

Before long, Kay got a fire going with some of the firelighters, and a few logs she found around Addis back garden, he had an old fashioned style chopping block, and had split wood already for the winter. I pulled Michael and James together later in the evening, when I noticed Nick had fallen asleep on the lounge, and for the first time since the morning before, we got to talk about what was going on. "I still can't believe David is dead, and things are already so crazy, its become like a fucking survival movie in just a couple of days" Michael finished. "Nick was right you know, what he said before guys, we do need to realize, people are going to die, and have already, this is not going to get easy before it gets harder." James said, his eyes serious, and thoughtful. "Its all just so crazy, I think we should help this guy, and I like Kay, she's already proved her worth within a few hours, this is going to keep getting crazier every day, and I think its important we keep close allies with those we can." I said, the others nodding in agreement, "Yeah I like the girl, she's got balls man, more than that sack of shit in the corner" said Michael, giving Nick a filthy glance over his shoulder. "Yeah, what are we going to do about him" said James, "That blockade in Appin, I saw his face when they shot that man, he looked genuinely devastated, like he lost faith, or hope, or something. It's dangerous thinking like that, you need to have your head clear, people are going to do what they can to survive now" I jolted, and turned to reach for the shotgun, it was in the car to my fatal error. Michael and James turned to see the source of my fears. "You are right, people are going to do what they can to survive, even if that means getting rid of unnecessary baggage." Nick had been listening to our conversation in the kitchen, and had retrieved the rifle from beside him on the floor. He stood menacingly a few feet from us, aiming the rifle at us with grave intent. "You going to get rid of me? Is that it? You going to let that fucking guy you found on the street come with you instead!?" He raised the gun and pointed it at James' head. I noticed movement behind him, and a shadow was cast on the wall in the flickering flames from the fire place. Nick stood cursing at us, ranting nonsense about how we were planning to betray him. "You think this is some big game, one fucking day of chaos and you become some big shot fucking heroes, you don't need me now! No one needs me now! I think things are going to be ok, and we get to a safe point, and bang, fucking dead, death, and death is everywhere, no one gets to live anymore!" James and Michael made futile attempts at calmly him down. Suddenly Addi came out of the hall from his bedroom, "What's going on, everything alright?" He asked with severe concern on his face. Then he noticed Nick standing with the rifle pointed at as, and Nick noticed him back pointing the gun at his head, there was a split second between that moment and the next and suddenly a shot rang out through the room. Then another, and blood sprayed from Nicks mouth, he dropped the rifle on the floor, holding his hands out in front of him. He began laughing, and he looked at us with beckoning eyes, spluttering blood everywhere. "No one gets to live" he said, before falling to the floor.

Kay stood behind him, the pistol I gave her in hand, smoking from the barrel, her eyes wild with adrenaline and fear.


	7. Down & Up

Addi dropped to the ground, his shoulder bleeding with a rapid intensity. Kay stood shaking, dropping the gun on the ground, and Michael attended Nick, as he lay on the floor, his eyes rolling around in his head. Blood spilled from his mouth and he began to go white and pale. Michael turned his shoulder over to examine the wound, he was shot through the chest, and was bleeding out, James took a good look and put his hands to his head, pulling at his hair. Addi stuck his finger in his wounded shoulder, fishing for the bullet, and he retrieved it, "James, top shelf in the kitchen, a bottle of vodka, I need it, and some antiseptic under the sink" James turned, forgetting Addi on the floor, and he went into the kitchen, turning around to look at Nick on the floor, as he slowly slipped into stillness. Kay sat by the fire, rocking back and forth, her head between her knees. James gave the vodka and the antiseptic to Addi, who poured it all over his wounds, and he took a large swig from the vodka bottle, stifling his pain in deep grunts.

With that I walked out the front door, onto Addi's slight balcony. The second I stepped outdoors, the redness of the sky filled my eyes, the sun was rising, and the sound of walkers drowned the morning's serenity, no birds sung in the early hours of that deathly morning. The gunshots must of drawn their attention, because they were streaming from all directions, into the streets, and towards Addi's little suburban house. I stared in disbelief, fear pulsing through my veins, I spied several groups of walkers heading down the slope, and along the neighbouring lawns, some had even spotted me standing on the dim balcony, as the sun slowly began to release the land from the shrouded night. I returned inside to see Michael standing over Addi, helping wrap his wounds in cloth from our first aid kit, and James was talking to Kay, her eyes were red with tears. Nick lay on the floor, motionless and dead, unattended. "Walkers are strolling the streets, they heard the gunshots" Michael and Addi nodded, "I'll border up the front of the house, you wanna sort him out?" He looked at Nicks corpse, and I nodded back.

I will never forget shovelling the dirt from Addi's backyard, the ground was soft initially, brown and earthy, worms struggled as I showed them the morning light. Dew was fresh in the grass, and as I dug deeper and deeper, It got harder and harder, I wiped my brow, clearing my eyes of the dust and the sweat. I turned to go inside, Michael and Addi were in the garage, gathering nails and heavy items to border the front of the house when it happened. James was in the bathroom, and Kay by the fire, I walked inside and watched as Nick's corpse rose from the floor, I had no weapon in reach, and I didn't want to draw Nick's attention. He stood facing the front of the house, his back to me, he sniffled as I entered, and I carefully close the back door, as to not make a sound. I grabbed the vodka bottle from the bench, lunging forward and shattered it over Nicks head, Kay turned with a fright, holding the fire poker in her hand. She stared confused, James fleeing from the hall. Nicks corpse turned with violent defence to face me, and I looked down at the shattered bottle in my hand, he lurched forward. I Held him back with my arms, keeping them clear of his bloodied mouth, his weight holding me down. James rand forward, kicking at his body with his boots, but the monster refused to let down, his eyes piecing and white. Biting close to my face with every second. Then suddenly a loud crack, and he became lifeless. James stood with the fire poker, Kay at his side, a chunk of Nicks skull threaded onto the pointy end like a skewer. "He wasn't bit? How, h h h, how did he come back?" stammered Kay, her eyes wide with fright. Addi and Michael ran to the back door, and helped pull Nicks corpse off of me. "He came back, he came fucking back!". Addi looked at Nick's shattered skull, "Looks like you gotta bust their head". We all stood in silence, and the sound of walkers grew loud, gnashing teeth and banging started to come from the front of the house. The front door was barred already with a wardrobe shelf, books tumbling from its shelves as walkers began pull at the door and windows.

"Its going to be a long night" said Michael, holding a hammer and nails In his hands, James pulled the rifle beside the lounge, and Kay picked up her gun. The hordes of the dead crying for our death as the red sun rose in the sky.


	8. Flight Or Die

Walkers streamed onto the lawn, the sound of their gargling drawing more and more of them toward the house. Nicks body was abandoned near the back door, and Michael and James grabbed their rifles. Addi moved toward the front windows, peering out to get a better look, a walker caught him during a glance, and plunged its arm toward him, shattering the glass, he turned to Kay and called for help as more of the dead merged on the shattered window, Kay helped Addi overturn the couch and block the window off, while Michael and I held the door. James retreated to the garage, where he grabbed a crow bar from Addi's tool kit, and the shotgun from the trunk. Walkers were banging on the garage door, which creaked and moaned under their weight, and the scraping of metal could be heard clearer than day, attracted only more attention to the house.

"Are we going to hold them off or what?" Called Kay, who was busy poking her pistol through the gaps, trying to get a clear shot at one of the walkers. "We are going to die" said Addi, and he backed away from the window, nursing his wounded shoulder with his good arm and sitting on the floor in defeat. "Not here, not like this" I said, offering my hand, and he looked up with disquieted, fear in his eyes. James stood at the back door, loading the shotgun, and he joined Michael at the front door, which was creaking with the mounting pressure behind it. "I have an idea!" I exclaimed, "The roof!", "Huh?" replied Kay, "Yes!" she shouted, the roof, and the others looked back, puzzled, the roof of the house was relatively low, and arched like a triangle, nothing could reach the gutter from the ground, but from the back door, which was raised five feet higher than the ground, and led down stairs, you could easily be boosted up. I called to Michael, who had just moved a shelf in front of the front door, completely blocking the entrance. "Boost me up onto the roof" I said, and he smiled, the plan clearly communicated between us. We headed out the back door, and I observed the gutter, which was about a foot above my head, Kay followed, and Michael knelt down so I could climb onto his knee, and with a groan and some effort I pulled myself up onto the roof. Kay handed me Nicks rifle, and I grabbed her hands, pulling her up with me, her pistol stashed in the seems of her pants. We climbed slowly up the tiled roof, the incline gradual, leading out onto the front. The sound of screeching and caterwauling was loud, and from above we had a clear view of the scene out the front of the house. More than fifty walkers covered the lawn, and at least a hundred more were streaming from all corners of the suburb, following in great mindless hordes.

"We aren't going to hold them off are we?" said Kay, as we observed the great multitudes of the dead before us. A single tear streamed down my face, many of the warped and bloodied faces were somewhat familiar, locals, some I didn't recognise, all were people though, and all were dead. "We are going to outlast this, I promise you. I turned to face Kay, her eyes bright and her face tired, defeat was creeping in, and I held my hand to her cheek. "This is not the end, not yet" I turned to face the backyard, and saw the rows and rows of houses behind us, the back fence of Addi's backyard, green, wooden and falling to pieces. "We are going to have to ditch the cars" I said, a plan forming in my mind. We climbed back down and went inside to face the others, all in various states of securing the house. "There are too many out there, and more are coming with every minute", "Its true" Kay assured them. "I think we need to leave the cars behind, take what things we can. We need to go through the back fence into the neighbouring houses, and see if we can make it back up the hill to the main road through the suburbs instead. Maybe if we are lucky, we can find another car on the way. Either way, we can't stay here." The others looked around, everyone seemed to agree that Addi's house had exhausted its homely appeal. "I'll go pack some things" said Addi, and he retreated to his bedroom, closing his door. "Ill head to the car, see what things I can carry" said James, as he passed us, patting me on the back as he walked out the door and down the steps. Michael nodded and followed, as did Kay. I stood then, frozen in the moment as walkers pulled apart the front of the house, Nicks body lay on the floor, saturated in blood and lifeless. The fire still crackling in its place. I looked down at Nick and whispered something faint into the air, I am still not sure if what I said was to Nick, or to death itself. "Not yet my friend, not yet" I whispered. Addi emerged from his bedroom with a large and weighty backpack strapped to his shoulders and he passed Nick and myself "I'll clear a route through the fence," he said, then he headed out the back. I gathered the guns from around the room, and brought them outside, then joined the others at the car in the garage. Everyone was filling bags with what things they could carry. Kay grabbed a gym bag from around the garage and filled it with food and supplies, what little ammo we had. Michael had a rucksack full of things, and I handed him a rifle, which he holstered, James passed me my large pack which I hooked over my shoulders and he carried a full bag himself, the car still relatively filled with things we had to leave behind.

We all filed outside, and headed to a space in the back fence, which Addi busily pulled apart a gap about three feet wide now stood in the fence, several panels lay scattered in the grass. One by one we slid through the gap into the neighbouring backyard, "Hang on a minute", called Kay, and she ran back into the garage, carrying something in her hands she ran back into the house. James panicked, and he turned to run back for her, but his efforts were needless, as she quickly ran from the back steps to the fence, hurrying us through the gap. "Cover your ears" she said, and not a moment after she spoke a loud explosion echoed through the neighbourhood. We all looked back through the fence, the house was ablaze, and the roof had caved in, flames were writhing and turning amongst, licking at the back windows, and the back door. "I saw a gas bottle in the garage" Kay explained, "Unscrewed the valve and chucked it toward the fireplace". Michael wrapped his arm around the young seventeen year old, patting her back, Walkers screeched as the house began to burn with a flaming heat of the burning house. Addi stood at the fence as we departed into the yard, staring at his house as it burned with the searing daylight. I stood with him, a hand on his shoulder, "Come" I said, and he looked at me, a smile on his face, placed with a great deal of effort. "I never did like that house anyway" he said, swinging his pack over his shoulder and walking ahead of me.

I followed the others, who headed forward through the long garden lawn, which was strewn with children's play things, up toward the side gate, and back out onto the streets. The streets were empty, all the walkers were drawn helplessly to the direction of Kays explosion, and together we traversed the streets, searching for a car, or a route to the main road, a way out, a haven. Out into the world, confined only by our willingness and determination to survive.


	9. Normality - Series 2

A bright sun rose during the first morning of June, a pale cloud covered the sky, blotches of blue snuck between it as it hovered aimlessly over us. I steered the great mini van as it bounced over the road, walkers flit across the main road like scattered deer in a heard. Some chased as we passed, and lost interest soon after, we had learnt not to hit them with our cars, they only do more damage then good, skulls are still hard, even if the brains are soft. I turned to my left, looking at the passengers seat next to me, Kay sat curled up, leaning on the window, which was rolled down all the way. Her brown her blowing in the wind, and curling and tangling as we sped down the highway. The rear-view showed a lethargic picture, Addi was asleep in the boot, his soft snoring was drowned out by the open window, and Michael sat with his feet cross, peering out the scope of the rifle, which he had detached from its mount, as we passed varying terrains. Next to him sat Amanda, one of our newest members, we picked her up in the city whilst scavenging for food, our first month in the land of the dead proved more difficult than the movies of our childhood suggested. Most of the shops were amassed with walkers, the city centres were no go zones, and the military had destroyed some areas completely. Whatever was left after that, was usually well looted already. Amanda was found with her brother Cameron, they had held off from walkers for almost two weeks by the time we found them, living in the ceiling of an abandoned supermarket by night. We ventured there in search of supplies, and offered for them to join us. Cameron was riding shotgun with James in our second car, which James picked up on the outskirts of town, in a garage, a 90's model Holden, redone, it was in the middle of a respray when abandoned, adorned in fresh, shiny black paint, we were searching for car parts when James came across it, and we decided it suited our needs.

We have all changed in the time in the last month, each of us have had to down walkers, each of us has faced near death at times. All of us has tasted hunger, missed showering and craved a good night sleep. All of us have gone without these things.

On May seventh, two weeks from the Bucks night, and David's death, James, Michael and myself sat down to talk about what we were going to do, and where we were going to head. It was decided that we would head North for a while, perhaps find some safe country area, stumble upon somewhere to hold out for as long as possible. With the second useful vehicle being found just a week later we decide we would travel as a group, carrying fuel in the van, supplies, and people, and whatever else we may need got put in the Holden. Cameron and Amanda were fine with our plans to head north, and decided for their own benefit, they would stay on with us.

Cameron was a young kid, a few years older than Kay, but very different, he was a lot more afraid than Kay, but her years of a parentless life had already aged her, she had grown up with a brother, and that was all, and now he was gone too. She had no choice, fear was not an option. Cameron seemed to be the opposite, he clung to his sister for days before befriending James, finding the car allowed for Cameron to show off his skills as an electrician, fixing the battery of car, and even providing power at some places we had stopped along the way. James' grief for the loss of Liv had subsided greatly in the previous weeks, he had stepped up, and his mourning had turned to positivity. Michael had become reclusive in some ways, he often brought up stories about him and Nick, I felt for him, as he was the closest friend he had ever had. He taught Kay how to use Nicks rifle during a quiet evening as we left town. We had parked up on a hill, in a place where walkers or anybody, could be seen coming from a long way off. He showed Kay how to load the rifle, and how to use the scope to aim and shoot, he was mostly making up the words he used to teach her, as he had never owned a gun before all of this, but he had learnt quick. Hunting in the bush as we got further from the cities. He found respite in teaching, and comfort in the mutual affection of us friends. It was lucky really, that we did not face those early days on our own, not like others, I too had begun too see things differently, to observe more, understand more. My grievances with what had happened were many, but one thing I had come to learn, is that things changed quicker than they ever did before. It was no longer a race through life, instead, it had become an endurance test, against death. I drove on then, looking out onto the road, cars scattered all over the place, broken down, crashed, some burnt up or destroyed. Walkers roamed the road, and I began to feel hollow, emptied, things seem to weigh on me, then a Kangaroo came bounding across the road, a small baby joey in its pouch, the walkers ignored it as we passed, and I watched it disappear into the bush once again. A warmth filled my chest, and a small was visible on my face, I looked into the rear view mirror, back at Michael, his neck was craned, he had spotted the Roo as well, and as he caught my eye looking back, we both laughed, and enjoyed that small moment of normality.


End file.
